MOUNTAIN CRANBERRY 



Flowers. — June, July. Pink l)ells, solitary or in clusters (A 

 two to four. Calyx ibur-lobed, rarely five-lobecl ; corolla jjjnk, 

 ovoid or urn-shai)ed, Ibur-toothed ; stamens eight, two-awned at 

 the back, included. 



Fruit. — Berry, globular, about one-fourth of an inch in diam- 

 eter, blue with a bloom, sweet, not abundant. July, August. 



MOUNTAIN CRANBERRY. CROWBERRY 



Vitis-Idcca vitis-idcca. Vaccinmm vltis-idcca. 



A low evergreen shrub, three to eight inches high, with creep- 

 ing stems and erect branches. Ranges from the higher moun- 

 tains of New England and the coast of Maine to Labrador, west- 

 ward to Lake Superior, British Columbia and Alaska ; ascends 

 5,300 feet in the Adirondacks. Native in northern Europe and 

 northern Asia ; prefers peat soil ; seeks the shelter of pine woods; 

 makes beds and mats. 



Leaves. — Crowded on the stem, one-fourth to two-thirds of an 

 inch long, obovate or oval, obtuse at base, margin entire or 

 sparingly serrate, slightly revolute, rounded or slightly retuse at 

 apex: when full grown are thick, leathery, dark shining green 

 above, paler, and dotted with blackish points underneadi, gla- 

 brous or minutely ciliate toward the base. Petioles short. 



Flowers.— ]\\\\Q, July. White or pinkish bells, in short, ter- 

 minal, secund racemes, nodding, longer than their pedicels. 

 Bracts reddish. 



Calyx. — Adnate to ovary, four-toothed. 



Corolla. — White or pink, oi)en bell-shaped, four-lobed. 



Stametis. — Eight ; anthers without awns, upwardly j^rolonged 

 into tubes ; cells opening by terminal pores. 



7^7^//. —Berry, globular, dark red, bitter-acid, about one-third 

 of an inch in diameter ; edible when cooked and used as a sub- 

 stitute for cranberries in the extreme north. August, September. 



The Mountain Cranberry is one of those plants 

 which since the i^Iacial period has returned apparent- 

 ly unchanged to its northern home; and is found in 



335 



